If you have ever been to Great Wolf Lodge, you will notice the strict walk and stance that lifeguards are required to comply with. It’s similar to how British soldiers walk. With one hand holding a rescue buoy, the other is in a tight fist moving up and down as they march back and forth. This is a very strict technique. Every so often fake children are thrown into the water to keep the lifeguard’s vigilante and always on the lookout for danger. From the outside looking in everything looks fine. If the lifeguard does their job well, they got a congratulatory pat on the back and thumbs up from coworkers.
This attitude tells me that supervisors were achievement-oriented leaders. Achievement-oriented leaders place hurdles in front of followers with the expectation and confidence that they can get through it and will ultimately improve their performance (Northouse, 2021, p. 136). By always keeping lifeguards on their toes, timing how long it takes them to respond to emergencies and providing training and certifications such as CPR training you would think they were trying all that they could to ensure subordinates were performing at their highest level.
Looking at reviews on Indeed is a different story. Many reviews state that favoritism played a huge role in who received privileges, scheduling appears terrible, and many were overworked with a lack of bathroom breaks. One former employee stated that management treated lifeguards like numbers, was constantly watched and written up for small things (Indeed, 2021). This tells me that leaders showed a lack of consideration in their leadership behavior. Consideration according to the style approach, means building trust, comradery, and fellowship amongst a team or group of people (PSU WC, 2016, L. 5, p.5). If you constantly have to watch your back because you know everyone is only out for themselves then trust will never be built.
We see self-defeating behaviors within Great Wolf Lodge. Within the style approach we see the self-defeating behavior of, Inability to build relationships. This typically occurs when a leader is unable to meet the needs of followers (PSU WC, 2016, L. 5, p. 9). Many of these employees were high school students who were looking for part time work while they were in school. Management was unable to meet their needs of a basic schedule that would work around their school hours. Another need that was not met was bathroom breaks. One review stated that the supervisor struggled to schedule time for breaks do to short staffing, another stated that they were required to stand for 7 hours straight.
In conclusion, when analyzing leadership from the outside looking in at Great Wolf Lodge, it looks great. I saw achievement-oriented leadership. Lots of motivation, opportunities, and positive challenges to me were great signs of leadership. After reading the reviews I realize I was wrong. Within the style approach we see that lack of consideration, and self-defeating behaviors were prominent.
References:
- Northouse, P. G. (2021). Leadership: Theory and Practice(9th Edition). SAGE Publications, Inc. (US). https://bookshelf.vitalsource.com/books/9781071834473
- Pennsylvania State University World Campus (2016). PSYCH 485 Lesson 5: Style and Situational Approaches. Retrieved from https://psu.instructure.com/courses/2181168/modules
- Indeed. (2021, November 06). Great Wolf Lodge. Retrieved from Great Wolf Lodge Employee Reviews for Lifeguard: https://www.indeed.com/cmp/Great-Wolf-Lodge/reviews?fjobtitle=Lifeguard
I liked how your post had a view from outsiders as well as the actual workers. I thought it was interesting how different the environment actually is compared to what it looks like. Id have to agree that from an on lookers perspective, the random drills throughout the day, as well as the strict training leads me to believe that management is achievement-oriented, when in reality it is far from that. While random drills and strict training seems like the ideal training for these guards, management is lacking in other areas for their employees. while the lifeguards are perceived to be on high alert, you have reviled that there are other factors such as fear that keeps them attentive.